Twice Olympic champion Hossein Rezazadeh has been forced to pull out of this year's Olympic Games. The "Iranian Hercules" has bowed to doctor's advice, telling him not to carry out any "heavy and stressful activity".

Following the positive EPO test of team leader Riccardo Ricco, German sponsor Saunier-Duval has decided to pull out of cycling.

Spaniard Carlos Sastre (CSC) enjoyed victory in the 17th stage of the Tour de France, a 210-kilometer ride from Embrun to the Alpe d'Huez. He also took the yellow jersey from his teammate Frank Schleck.

Starting in September 2009, Hungary will become the second Eastern European country after the Czech Republic to host a motorcycling Grand Prix.

French star of Bayern Munich, Franck Ribery, could be back on the pitch in September to help his team in the Champions League. The midfielder suffered a ligament injury during the Euro 2008 match against Italy.

The 17th stage of the Tour de France between Embrun and the Alpe d'Huez is one of the most notorious of the competition. It has become a reference for climbing cyclism, and in the 1970's, the winner of the stage was set to win the Tour.

Jamaica's Asafa Powell clocked 9.88 seconds on Tuesday at at the IAAF Grand Prix meeting's 100 metres, just 0.01 second ahead of his fellow countryman and record holder Usain Bolt. At the Jamaican selections in June, Bolt was the fastest.

In a dramatic 16th stage of the Tour de France, Frenchman Cyril Dessel (AG2R) enjoyed his first victory after the 157-km mountain ride from Cuneo in Italy to Jausiers in France. Frank Schleck (CSC) of Luxembourg retained the yellow jersey.

Trailing the yellow jersey by a mere 7 seconds, the unlikely conqueror of the Alps and holder of the best climber's jersey Bernhard Kohl is on the verge of becoming a national hero in his native Austria.

Former Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele has agreed to play for Paris Saint-Germain next season. The 35-year-old player becomes the second important transfer for the French club after ex-Roma player Ludovic Giuly.

Italy's Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) claimed his fourth win of the season at the US Grand Prix, ahead of Australian title-holder Casey Stoner (Ducati) who had won the three previous ones. 'Il Dottore' extended his overall standings lead.

France's Gilles Simon saw off Russian defending champion Dmitry Tursunov in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) in the final of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, thereby claiming his second title of the season after victory in Casablanca in May.

Ireland's Padraig Harrington joined a select club of winners of back-to-back majors as he successfully defended his British Open title at Royal Birkdale. Australia's Greg Norman, bidding to become golf's oldest major champion at 53, tied for third.

The Tour's first Alpine stage prompted multiple crashes and a shake-up of the general standings. Credit Agricole's Simon Gerrans cruised to a famous win, while fellow Australian Cadel Evans lost his yellow jersey to Luxembourg's Frank Schleck.

Lewis Hamilton is the sole leader of the F1 drivers' standings after clinching his second successive win and his fourth of the season in a thrilling German Grand Prix. The McLaren driver cruised home 5.5 seconds ahead of Nelson Piquet Jr.

At the doorstep of the Alps, four-time stage winner Mark Cavendish has announced he will pull out of the Tour de France. The British cyclist said he is suffering from fatigue following two weeks of intense racing.

Defending champion Casey Stoner, who won the German MotoGP last week, signs his fifth pole position at the US Grand Prix in Laguna Seca, California. He is followed by championship leader Italian Valentino Rossi and American Nicky Hayden.

With less than twenty days to go before Beijing Games, Australian Grant Hackett beat his own record in the 800 metres freestyle in seven minutes 23.42 seconds,1.86 seconds better than his previous one.

Sunday will see the start of this year's Transat race. 28 boats will cross the Atlantic, starting in Quebec and ending in St Malo, striving to beat the record of just under eight days set by Frenchman Loick Peyron 12 years ago.

Australia have inflicted a second defeat in three games on the Springboks in this year's Tri-Nations championship with a 16-9 victory, as the world champions produced an uncharacteristically error-prone performance in Perth.